AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
May 11, 2021
Issue
National Police Week
Details
Being a member of law enforcement is dangerous and the past year it has been even more dangerous as police officers have been deliberately targeted, told to stand down by mayors as mobs burned down their cities, abandoned by those in authority when they did the job they were hired to do, etc. Prior to that the momentum was building up to where we are now. The message that “Cops are the bad guys” was telegraphed loud and clear by the media and certain politicians.
The first recorded police officer killed in the line of duty was in 1786, fast-forward to 2020 and the total is more than 22,000 killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are 22,611 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. During the past ten years, there has been an average of 176 deaths per year. However, in 2020 306 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report 2019 LEOKA report, there were 56,034 assaults against law enforcement officers in 2019, resulting in 17, 188 injuries.
Public Law 103-322 authorizes the American Flag to be flown at half-staff on May 15, Peace Officers Memorial Day, was enacted into law.
Action Steps
May 9-15 is National Police Week. Take time to tell your local law enforcement ‘thank you for being there.”
